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Overview
Francisco Franco is the most important and controversial figure in the emergence of modern Spain
- How did Franco rise to power and of what use did he make of it?
- Examines the formative influences on Franco.
- Traces his vision for Spain and his success or failure at realizing it.
Francisco Franco was a military man before all else. His supporters said that his handling of politics was that of a brilliant strategist, his detractors that he ran Spain as if it were a barracks. He remains a deeply divisive figure, and his contribution, for good or ill, to the emergence of modern Spain is still intensely controversial. Franco is an excellent account of the Generalissimo's rise to power and his four decades as autocratic Head of State in Spain. Set in the context of the social, economic and political evolution of twentieth-century Spain, Sheelagh Ellwood assesses his career, through the Civil War and his forty years of supreme power, and reveals the personal characteristics that enabled Franco to take advantage of those circumstances. Franco, in the Profiles in Power series, is not a biography, though inevitably it contains much biographical material, it instead analyzes the major features, achievements and failures of Franco's career.
Sheelagh Elwood is research analysis for the Iberian Peninsula in the Research and Analysis Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London.
Synopsis
Francisco Franco is the most important and controversial figure in the emergence of modern Spain
- How did Franco rise to power and of what use did he make of it?
- Examines the formative influences on Franco.
- Traces his vision for Spain and his success or failure at realizing it.
Francisco Franco was a military man before all else. His supporters said that his handling of politics was that of a brilliant strategist, his detractors that he ran Spain as if it were a barracks. He remains a deeply divisive figure, and his contribution, for good or ill, to the emergence of modern Spain is still intensely controversial. Franco is an excellent account of the Generalissimo's rise to power and his four decades as autocratic Head of State in Spain. Set in the context of the social, economic and political evolution of twentieth-century Spain, Sheelagh Ellwood assesses his career, through the Civil War and his forty years of supreme power, and reveals the personal characteristics that enabled Franco to take advantage of those circumstances. Franco, in the Profiles in Power series, is not a biography, though inevitably it contains much biographical material, it instead analyzes the major features, achievements and failures of Franco's career.
Sheelagh Elwood is research analysis for the Iberian Peninsula in the Research and Analysis Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London.
Booknews
Ellwood (research analyst for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London) analyzes the special circumstances in Spain that made Franco's long-enduring career as autocratic Head of State possible. Set in the context of the social, economic and political evolution of 20th Century Spain, she looks at the personal characteristics that enabled him to take advantage of those circumstances despite his not being a prepossessing or charismatic figure, nor a leader with a ready-made power base. Topics include how Franco rose to such power; what use he made of it; what the formative influences on him were; and whether he had a consistent vision for Spain and if so, how far he was able to realize it. Reprint of the 1994 edition. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)